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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Essential Estrogen: Cancer Forum Brings HPV Vaccination Discussion

Many good things came about as a result of the Lance ArmstrongFoundation's LiveStrong Presidential Cancer Forum in Iowa. Discussionson cancer research funding and how government can play a role inAmerica's quality of life came to the forefront. Perhaps one of themost important aspects of the forum for those who advocate forreproductive health, however, was the injection of the humanpapillomavirus vaccination into the national conversation. Genital HPVinfection is a sexually transmitted disease that is caused by humanpapillomavirus, a group of viruses that includes more than 100different strains. The disease is spread by genital contact. All typesof HPV can cause mild Pap test abnormalities which do not have seriousconsequences. Roughly 10 out of the 30 identified genital HPV typescan lead to development of cervical cancer.